Edward s



UNITE STATES ATENT OFFICE.

EDVARD S. SNELL, OF NORTH BRIDGEVVATER, MASSACHUSETTS, AS-SIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND FRANCIS B. IVASHBURN, OF SAME PLACE.

MACHINE FOR PRICKING AND CUTTING HEELS OF BOOTS .AND SHOES.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 19,611, dated March 9, 1858.

T0 ZZ whom it may concern: y

Be it known that I, EDWARD S. SNELL, of North Bridgewater, inthe county of Plymouth and State of Massachusetts, have invented. a new and useful Machine for Cutting the I-Ieels of Boots and Pricking the Holes Therein, and that the. following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, hereinafter referred to, forms a full and exact specification of the same, wherein I have set forth the nature and principles of my said invention, by which it may be distinguished from others of a similar class, together with such parts as I claim and desire to have secured to me by Letters Patent.

The figures of the accompanying plate of drawings represent my improvements.

Figure l is a plan or top view of the machine. Fig. Q is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a partial section taken in the plane of the line A, B. Fig. a, is a detail section taken in the plane of 'the line C, D. Fig. 5 is a det-ail view of the knife on an enlarged scale.

In boot and shoe manufactories the heels are now usually made by slightly fastening together a suiiicient number of lifts to form the requisite thickness. They are then all cut or trimmed at once on the edge till the required shape is obtained. The pricking or forming the holes for the pegs or nails is afterward done by hand.

The present invention combines in one organized machine the operations of cutting the edge of the heel to give it its proper form, and pricking the holes for the nails or pegs, the cutting devices being peculiarly arranged so as to accomplish the desired result with perfect accuracy whatever may be the shape of the heel, and the holes all pricked simultaneously by a series of awls, which assist in holding the heel rigidly while it is being cut.

a a a in the drawings represent the sustaining framework of the machine.

b Z) is the top platform through which pass t-he vertical standards 0 c united at the top and. bottom by cross bars Z Z and e e. Through the top cross bar Z l extends a 'hollow vertical shaft f Fig. 3, to the bottom of which is secured a block g g in which are inserted a series of awls it, i., 7L, as shown in Figs. 2 a'nd 4 arranged in the same form as the shape of the heel.

/c is a flat plate attached to a short shaft Z the collar m of which abuts against a spiral spring mf inserted in the hollow shaft f. The awls /L pass through the plate is. Directly under the block g g and the plate k is a bed. piece and pattern n of the same contour as the heel when finished and attached to a shaft 0 which has its bearings in the journal 7). The pattern n is connected to the block g so as to turn with it by means of a stud q which plays loosely up and down through the pattern n.

7" 1 is a treadle connected by a rod s s to i a lever t t which bears upon the lower cross bar e e of the standards c c before referred to. Thus it will be seen that by depressing the treadle r 7", a downward motion will, through the standards c c and cross-bars CZ Z and e e be given to the block g g and. its awls as also to the plate lc. By this means the pieces composing the heel which are placed upon t-he pattern n, will be pierced by the downward movement of the block g g and its awls, and thereby form all the holes for the nails or pegs simultaneously and with the greatest accuracy. The standards c c are retracted when the pressure upon the treadle is removed by means of the spiral springs u u acting against the cross bar (l cl, thereby raising up the block g and withdrawing the awls from the heel, the heel being held down while the awls are being withdrawn, by the spiral spring acting upon the plate ,7c in such a manner as to hold the heel down until the awls are withdrawn. The bed piece or pattern n can be raised or lowered so as to adapt it to heels of different thickness by means of a screw u Fig. 3, upon which the lower end of the shaft 0 rests.

After the treadle has been depressed and the holes pierced as described and while the awls remain in the heel, the operation of cutting the edge or contour of the heel is performed, the heel being rigidly held by means of the awls in the heel, and the pressure induced upon the leather, as follows ga is a knife set in a stock b hung upon centers o c. On the central shaft or bearing of the knife are two small wheels cl CZ which bear against the edge of the pattern n before referred to. The knife-stock b is set in a sliding carriage e e which is acted upon byV a spiral spring f f shown in section in Fig. 3 and by dotted lines in Fig.

sol

1 so as to cause the knife to keep close to and follow the pattern n. In a projecting portion of the lower part of the knife stock b is arranged a small wheel g', Fig. 5, which extends and travels in front of the knife. A spiral spring L, Figs. 1 and 2, of slight tension is attached to the rear end of the knife stock Z9 and as the knife stock is hung upon centers keeps the edge of the knife always up to its work.

The operation of cutting the heel, held upon the pattern or bed piece n, as hereinbefore described, is effected by simply turning a handle z" attached to a hollow shaft j' whereby the pattern or bed piece a with the heel held upon it, is revolved carrying the leather against the edge of the knife which presses up to and follows the shape of the pattern n as before explained, the wheels c, cl serving to guide the knife according to the shape of the pattern however abrupt or short its curves may be, while the wheel g traveling on the edge of the pattern n in front of the knife, prevents the knife from gouging into the leather, which it would otherwise do when any abrupt turns occurred in the pattern. The import-ance of this arrangement in cutting out heels in which short curves occur will be apparent.

Having thus ldescribed my improvements I shall state my claim as follows:

f What I claim as my invention and desire to have secured to Ine by Letters Patent, is

l. The arrangement of devices herein described, for pricking the holes in boot and shoe heels, the same consisting of the block g furnished with a series of awls h, the plate and a pattern or bed piece n upon which the heel is placed, the whole operated substantially as s et forth.

2. In connection with the above, I also claim the cutting apparatus, consisting of a knife so arranged upon a sliding carriage as to keep up to the pattern and furnished with a wheel that travels on the pattern in' front of the knife, to adapt the knife to short curves in heels, whereby a heel is formed and pricked accurately as set forth.

EDWARD S. SNELL. Witnesses:

VARUNES SNELL, LEML. B. AT1-DEMON. 

